Hi my name is Deborah and I'm obsessed with reading - can you tell?! I don't think there's anything worse than reading a bad book, so hopefully my reviews will help you avoid doing just that! Thanks for visiting and enjoy reading!

I’m not one for the supernatural. I find all things ghostly
a tad far-fetched and unbelievable. For this reason I’ve never read a
supernatural type book because I just didn’t think I could enjoy one. Oh how
wrong I was! I received Voices by David Shaw from the publisher and was a more
than a little sceptical about it but thought I’d give it a go anyone (I’m not
one to turn down a free book!).

The story begins with a bomb explosion in a school canteen
which kills or maims everyone in the vicinity. Chris Deacon, an IT teacher is
one of the few survivors, but things totally change for him after he wakes from
his coma; he is no longer able to speak or hear and he sees frightening apparitions
that seem to want him to do something.

I really enjoyed the book, it was full of twists and turns
and I genuinely was gripped from beginning to end. I really wasn’t sure if I
would enjoy the supernatural aspect of it, but I found that it wasn’t too far-fetched
in the grand scheme of things and that Shaw actually uses this to make the
story make sense.

The characters are very well written and the main protagonist
is likeable and believable, despite his tendency to see and hear things that
most others can’t. I think this is David Shaw’s key success in the story
because if he hadn’t made the main character believable, the whole story would
have just been rubbish. As it is, I actually found myself understanding the
situation and believing it to be the truth - very bizarre!

I have to be honest, I had never heard of Allen Wyler before
I was sent this book to review, but after reading it, I think it is safe to say
that I am a fan. Dead End Deal is a sort of medical science based thriller and,
although I am not a fan of medical related things in general, I loved this
book.

The story focusses on Jon Ritter who is a scientist on the
verge of discovering a cure for Alzheimer’s. Suddenly the research is slated
and Ritter’s mentor is killed. Ritter himself is threatened by an anti-abortion
group who promise more of the same if he continues his research. Ritter must
decide whether the risk is great enough to give up the thing that has been
dominating his life for the last 10 years . . .

Allen Wyler is a well-respected former neurosurgeon and this
shows in the story of the book, but it isn’t overly detailed and tiresome for
the layman (me!). When I first read the blurb of the book and the author’s ‘About
Me’, I was a bit worried that it would be too technical for me, but this is not
the case at all. Wyler does an excellent job of simplifying things enough that
someone without experience in the field can understand and enjoy the story, but
not so much that it doesn’t feel authentic.